H.R. 6092 — Constitutional Accountability Act

This section states 15 congressional findings regarding the history and purpose of 42 U.S.C. 1983 (i.e., civil action for deprivation of rights under color of state law); Supreme Court decisions limiting municipal liability to policies or customs (Monell v. Department of Social Services, 436 U.S. 658 (1978)) and barring state liability (Will v. Michigan Department of State Police, 491 U.S. 58 (1989)); the lack of respondeat superior liability for municipalities; deficiencies in police hiring, training, supervision, and discipline; and Congress's authority under section 5 of the 14th Amendment to enforce constitutional protections against states.

This section amends 42 U.S.C. 1983 (i.e., the statute authorizing civil suits for damages against persons acting under color of state or territorial law who deprive individuals of federal constitutional or statutory rights) by (1) defining "person" to explicitly include the United States, states, territories, the District of Columbia, local governments, their agencies, subdivisions, or combinations thereof, and individuals or private entities; (2) defining "law enforcement officer" to include any officer of the United States, a state, territory, District of Columbia, local government, or combination thereof empowered to execute searches, seize evidence, or make arrests; (3) adding the United States to the entities whose laws can trigger liability; (4) imposing vicarious liability on any "person" (as defined) for rights deprivations committed by its employee or contractor serving as a law enforcement officer, without regard to the employee or contractor's immunity or whether the act followed the employer's policy or custom; (5) abrogating state sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment or other doctrines for such claims, pursuant to section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment; and (6) waiving U.S. sovereign immunity for such claims. (Thus, the amendment enables direct suits against federal, state, and local governments and private employers of law enforcement officers for officers' constitutional violations, overriding traditional immunities and the requirement to prove a policy or custom.)